Cops tap bartenders to quell club violence

Orlando police are trying to keep people from killing one another over spilled beer.

The key, they think, is getting the people who run bars to behave.

Last year, eight people were slain at bars or clubs in Orlando and unincorporated Orange County, often in disputes with people they barely knew. In one case from east Orange, the deadly brawl literally started over spilled beer and ended with gunfire.

Although conventional wisdom says it's not possible to prevent rowdy drunks from getting into fights, studies repeatedly prove that bar violence can be reduced.

So in what state agents call a unique approach to curbing violence, Orlando officers are working with state regulators and local code-enforcement workers to make sure that drinking establishments obey local and state ordinances.

The theory is that if these businesses follow the rules, so will their patrons, said Capt. Mark Bong of the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in Orlando.

"There's this idea that there's a tipping point past which if there's enough crime in a neighborhood, you get a big increase in crime," Bong said. "We want to reach a tipping point to where people know we care, and know we're looking and that doesn't happen."

Four of last year's bar victims were killed in the Orlando police jurisdiction. Officers are hoping that closer supervision can make things safer.

Early Sunday, a 26-year-old man died after he was stabbed along North Orange Blossom Trail at the Whiskey River Lounge in Orlando.

Bar killings can occur suddenly, and for petty reasons. In December, Christopher Jones, 25, an aspiring hip-hop artist, tried to play peacemaker when another patron, Carlos Burgos, 26, argued with staff members at the Diamond Club on Semoran Boulevard, Orange County sheriff's Detective Dorothy Rivera said.

Jones, Burgos and others left when the argument became too loud. Jones hung out with friends in the parking lot and Carlos Burgos disappeared. Thirty minutes later, Burgos returned, gunned Jones down and wounded a valet parking attendant, Rivera said.

"Nothing makes sense, does it?" said the victim's father, William Jones.

Deputies are searching for Burgos. William Jones and Crimeline posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Restaurants or bars?

At Orlando's Danube Plaza, on Semoran Boulevard just south of State Road 408, authorities are putting their ideas on curbing bar violence to work. Four businesses licensed as restaurants occupy the shopping center, but law-enforcement authorities noticed they seemed more like bars, said John Lamolli, a special agent with ABT.

No one ordered food. They played pool instead. The restaurants stayed open as late as bars did, and at least one hired women to dance with patrons, Lamolli said. One restaurant rented the space next door and opened a dance floor.

At their worst, Friday nights at the Danube were an unofficial pub crawl, Lamolli said. Tipsy patrons moseyed from one bar to another. Residents complained to city code-enforcement workers that drunks urinated in the parking lot. These patrons attracted robbers, who knew they carried cash and were easy targets, police said.

Last summer, a vicious brawl between strangers in the plaza's parking lot June 16 left one man dead and four others injured. Police found blood spattered in 50 different locations. Julio Ferrer, 46, was found dead inside his car with multiple stab wounds. One cut sliced an artery in his neck, and he bled to death.

Detectives determined that two fights took place in the parking lot that night and the stabbing was in self-defense.

State law entitles the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco to check receipts of businesses with alcohol licenses, so agents targeted the Danube businesses. They determined the restaurants were making most of their money through alcohol sales, a violation of city rules.

Landlord plays role

RAB Land and Development Inc., the St. Petersburg-based company that owns the shopping center, is being fined $1,000 per day until the restaurants clean up their act. The company sent letters to the restaurants that they're in violation of their leases and may be evicted.

The plaza's owners hired an off-duty police officer to patrol the shopping center about a month ago to improve safety, and things have improved, said Ramzi Boutros, the company's president.

On a recent Friday night, music blared in the half-full bars. Women in short shorts hovered near the door or danced with patrons. Police fliers warning patrons to look out for a band of robbers hung next to the doors. No one fought. Calls for service are down from a high of 13 in June to five in February, according to police records.

Studies have repeatedly shown that a rowdy atmosphere can encourage people to behave violently, said Ken Leonard, an expert with the Research Institute on Addictions at the University of New York at Buffalo. Dark, crowded, loud bars where owners tolerate prostitution, drug dealing or low levels of aggression attract a rough crowd that's prone to violence.

In addition, bar workers can take simple steps, such as making sure patrons don't leave angry, to keep arguments from turning into parking-lot brawls.